This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Surnames: Roper, Byrum, Stephens Classification: Census Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/kgDBAEB/739 Message Board Post: United States Census -- 1850 District 31, Forsyth County, Georgia (Page Imprinted "177") 28 Aug 1850 Line 33, Dwelling 457, Family 457, John ROPER, age 59, Male, Farmer, RE $400, Born SC Line 34, Dwelling 457, Family 457, Tabitha ROPER, age 40, Female, Born SC Line 35, Dwelling 457, Family 457, Mitilda ROPER, age 16, Female, Born SC Line 36, Dwelling 457, Family 457, James H. ROPER, age 13, Male, Born SC Line 37, Dwelling 457, Family 457, Peter ROPER, age 12, Male, Born GA Line 38, Dwelling 457, Family 457, Nancy ROPER, age 10, Female, Born GA Line 39, Dwelling 457, Family 457, Elizabeth ROPER, age 8, Female, Born GA Line 40, Dwelling 457, Family 457, Charly ROPER, age 6, Male, Born GA Line 41, Dwelling 457, Family 457, Alfred ROPER, age 4, Male, Born GA Line 42, Dwelling 457, Family 457, William ROPER, age 3/12, Male, Born GA [Image 65 of 189 at the Ancestry.com presentation of 1850 Census data for this jursidiction] NOTE 1: From the ages and places of birth of the children shown in the enumeration above we may infer that John ROPER first settled in Forsyth, GA, aout 1837 to 1838. This John ROPER family seemed to reside in South Carolina immediately prior to that. Whether John ROPER was actually born in SC, though is questionable. His 1860 Census record says he was born in North Carolina. NOTE 2: This John ROPER was enumerated in Forsyth County, GA, in the 1840 Census. His record indicated: John ROPER: 2 - 1 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 1 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 -- 1 - 2 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 1 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 -- No Slaves John ROPER appears to be age 40 to 49 in 1840 while his wife seems to have been age 30 to 39. There are 2 males under age 5 (b 1836-40), 1 male child age 5 to 9 (b 1831-35), 1 female child under age 5 (b 1836-40), and 2 female children age 5 to 9 (b 1831-35). Unfortunately, since ALL of the children are under age ten, we cannot be assured that John ROPER had his own separate household in 1830, nor can we be certain that he was living in South Carolina at the date of the 1830 Census enumeration, though this seems most likely. NOTE 3: It APPEARS that John ROPER WAS separately enumerated in the Census in 1830 and that his Census record is that shown in Pickens, SC, with this data: John ROPER: 1 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 1 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 -- 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 1 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 -- No Slaves This John ROPER is enumerated adjacent to Peter BYRUM and Reuben ROPER. Secondary sources tell us that this John ROPER's wife was Tabitha BYRUM, so this is almost surely the CORRECT record. By contrast, the following additional John ROPERs appear in South Carolina in 1830: John H. ROPER (Pickens, SC): 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 1 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 -- 1 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 1 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 1 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 -- No Slaves John ROPER (Marion, SC): 1 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 1 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 -- 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 1 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 1 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 -- No Slaves John ROPER Sr. (Marion, SC): 0 - 0 - 0 - 1 - 2 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 1 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 -- 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 1 - 0 - 0 - 1 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 -- No Slaves The first two of these alternative records is arguably as likely a choice as the record indicated EXCEPT for the adjacency of the record of Peter BYRUM in the first instance. The latter record seems rather clear to NOT be the one. The Marion Census records for 1830 are arranged alphabetically rather than by proximity, but the respective ages and proximity in the SAME county makes it appear likely that John ROPER Sr. of Marion is the father of the younger John ROPER, of Marion. Also, note the presence of the older women in the household of the second John ROPER, of Pickens. This would appear likely to be either this John ROPER's widowed mother or the widowed mother of his wife. Another indication that this is the CORRECT John ROPER is that the OTHER John ROPER of Pickens appears lielky to have hoved to Lumpkin, GA, wher ehis 1840 Census record shows: John H. ROPER (Pickens, SC): 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 1 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 -- 2 - 3 - 1 - 0 - 0 - 1 - 0 - 0 - 1 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 -- No Slaves NOTE 4: Yet another clue that the John ROPER Census record identified above in Pickens is the CORRECT record is the appearance of a Reuben ROPER in the 1840 Census enumeration for Forsyth County, GA. And this is the ONLY Reuben ROPER shown in the 1840 Census in the United States! NOTE 5: The adjacency and the migration of Reuben ROPER affords us one additional particularly compelling clue regarding the identity of the father of John ROPER, of Forsyth, GA. That is the fact that there is very clearly a much older man residing in the household of Reuben ROPER in 1830, who is no longer present in 1840. COnsider these Census records: Reuben ROPER (Pickens, SC): 1 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 1 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 1 - 0 - 0 - 0 -- 1 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 1 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 1 - 0 - 0 - 0 -- No Slaves [1830] Reuben ROPER (Forsyth, GA): 1 - 1 - 1 - 0 - 0 - 1 - 1 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 -- 0 - 1 - 1 - 0 - 1 - 1 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 -- No Slaves [1840] NOTE THAT THE ELDEST MALE IN REUBEN ROPER's HH IS AGE 70 TO 79 YEARS OLD IN 1830. THE ELDEST FEMALE IN THIS HH IS THE SAME AGE. Either the Head of this household is Reuben ROPER (b 1761-70) OR Reuben ROPER is the younger man age 20 to 29 (b abt 1811-20) and his retired father is also living in this household! The elder man in the Reuben ROPER HH in Pickens in 1830 seems almost durely to be the FATHER of John ROPER, of Forsyth, GA. The younger man seems surely to be the Reuben ROPER who married Malinda A. STEPHENS on 27 Dec 1849 at Habersham County, GA. It is also hardly surprising then that a child named Reuben ROPER, presumably named for his uncle, appears in John ROPER's Forsyth household in the 1860 Census enumeration.